Tag: Ty Nsekhe

3 things we learned from Sean McDermott, post-roster cuts

Takeaways from Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott following roster cuts.

Team personnel is more the forte of Bills general manager Brandon Beane. Following roster cuts over the weekend, Beane broke down the series of roster transactions the Bills went through over the past few days himself, but Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott gave some insight onto things from a coaching perspective as well,

Here are three things we learned from McDermott following roster cuts:

Bills head coach Sean McDermott. (James P. McCoy/The Buffalo News via AP, Pool)

Can’t give ’em an inch

Across the NFL this week, teams have already started to release their depth charts ahead of the season-opening weekend en route. Heck, Buffalo’s first opponent, the Jets, dropped theirs already. Throughout training camp, McDermott & the Bills have been on top of reports coming out of training camp. We didn’t see the reporting we are used to. In particular, mentions of the depth chart, we put on lock down.

Evidently there’s a Wednesday deadline for teams to release their depth charts.

For the Bills, the biggest question marks on their roster sit along the offensive line. Who’s playing where without Jon Feliciano in the lineup? We can speculate that Cody Ford will move from right tackle to fill in at guard, but then on the outside it could be a few different options such as Ty Nsekhe and Daryl Williams. We’ll find out the answers on Wednesday, it appears. When asked if the O-line depth chart has been settled, McDermott said he’s going to take this one to the finish line.

“I think we’ll know a bit more after practice today… I’ll get that to you guys on Wednesday,” McDermott said. “I’ll get that to you guys as soon as I can on Wednesday.”

But no worries, guys (and the Jets). We’re almost there.

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Who could be surprise cut, trade candidates as Bills training camp ends?

Buffalo Bills players who could be surprise trade or cut candidates as 2020 training camp ends.

The Buffalo Bills are entering the final days of their 2020 training camp, even if it seems like it just began. In less than two weeks the club welcomes the New York Jets to Bills Stadium for their season-opening contest in front of no fans.

Even sooner is training camp cut day. The Bills have until Saturday at 4 p.m. to get down to 53 players. In order to get there, some guys will but cut, while others could be interesting trade options. Perhaps some of these moves could be considered surprises, too. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane hasn’t been shy about making bold moves in recent seasons, which has included swinging players for draft picks.

With that, let’s look at a few surprise cut and trade candidates as the Bills enter the final week of training camp:

Bills running back T.J. Yeldon. (James P. McCoy/The Buffalo News via AP, Pool)

RB TJ Yeldon

TJ Yeldon potentially not making this roster comes down to one other player: Antonio Williams. The Bills re-signed Williams this week, reportedly. He was with the team earlier this offseason. If Williams impressed enough in the final few days of camp, could Yeldon be expendable? Williams was once a highly-touted Ohio State prospect. He transferred closer to home and played in a loaded backfield so his numbers were never eye-popping enough to get him drafted out of UNC. But having said that, it’d certainly be considered a surprise to see Williams stay and Yeldon go.

The veteran has been around all offseason and he provides some veteran depth behind the youthful starting duo of Devin Singletary and Zack Moss. Williams was likely signed this week due to injuries at the position over the past week.

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Important notes from photos, videos of Bills scrimmage

Notes and observations from Buffalo Bills scrimmage held during 2020 training camp.

Bills running back Devin Singletary. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News via AP, Pool)

So far at Bills training camp, we’ve had a different vibe.

OK, considering the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing in the United States, the differences from what we’re accustom to is pretty evident. However, we’ve seen a media side effect from this. There’s no in-depth reporting coming out of training camp. Where are guys lining up? What’s the depth chart? Who could be on the roster bubble? We don’t know.

However, the Bills did have a scrimmage on Thursday. From that, a little bit of content was released by the team. There was video of two Josh Allen touchdown passes, along with a photo collage posted to the team’s website. We’re certainly not going to get much information out of them, but why not try anyway? Let’s dig a little deeper… or at least as deep as we can.

We’ll start by showing the touchdown passes here:

Allen to Roberts: 

Allen to Singletary: 

And now some position-by-position notes:

Receivers

  • Not really much digging here, but Roberts catches this pass. Yes, he’s an All-Pro returner, but the Bills entered the offseason very deep at wide receiver, so Roberts was not a lock to make the team. More recently, he’s starting to look like one and playing receiver with the starters is a good sign (Stefon Diggs missed practice). WROC-TV reported following the scrimmage that Roberts had three catches on this touchdown drive as well, so he was out there quite a bit.
  • The second video, OK… Singletary catches the touchdown, we knew he was their starter. Singletary is also coming out of the backfield on Roberts’ TD catch. In the same light as Singletary, Cole Beasley and John Brown pop up in the backgrounds of both videos and we also know those guys are starters, so no changes there.
  • Also spotted, Tyler Kroft in the background. He’s expected to be the Bills’ No. 2 tight end behind Dawson Know, so him out there with the starters fits but it’s still worth noting. No surprise depth guys jumping over him for the final roster just yet.
  • The most fun note: We’ve heard a lot about rookie Gabriel Davis so far in camp, but we finally have a visual sighting of him with the first-team offense. When Singletary scores, Davis throws his arms up to cheer. He could be a sneaky pick for a guy that’s going to get involved with the starters this season.
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Bills injury update: Levi Wallace returns, multiple others miss practice

Buffalo Bills injury updates from Day 2 of 2020 training camp.

The Bills had some movement in both directions in regard to injuries at training camp on Tuesday. The workouts were just the second which saw players suit up in pads this offseason.

According to various reports Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said second year defensive tackle Ed Oliver missed a second consecutive day of practices on Tuesday due to a hip injury. In addition to Oliver, tight end Tommy Sweeney (foot) also missed practice again.

While discussing injuries on Monday, McDermott described his team’s health issues as “soft tissue” injuries and “bumps and bruises.”

In terms of non-participants, a few more players did also join the likes of Oliver and Sweeney on the sideline. Injury reports released following practice indicated that fullback Patrick DiMarco (neck) and wideouts Robert Foster (concussion) and rookie Gabriel Davis (leg) all missed their first days of padded practices.

Now that most of the bad news is out of the way, some positive notes were also found.

Wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins and linebacker Vosean Joseph were wearing non-contact jerseys during practice, but did participate. The pair did the same on Monday. Two others also returned to practice after missing Day 1, cornerback Levi Wallace (back) and right tackle Ty Nsekhe. On Monday, Nsekhe was not mentioned by McDermott as a non-participant, but various media reports including Syracuse.com indicated that he was not taking part in practice.

Offensive lineman Jon Feliciano also did not practice. He’s expected to miss several weeks due to a chest injury.

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Bills’ Cody Ford open to moving from tackle to guard

Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Cody Ford said if he needs to move positions, he will.

The Buffalo Bills offensive line has been a unit that’s been turned on its head in recent weeks after a big injury to Jon Feliciano. Last season Feliciano started every game for the Bills at right guard, but it was announced that he suffered a chest injury which will keep him out for an extended period.

Currently it doesn’t seem like a likely move, but could second-year pro Cody Ford be moved from tackle to guard to help fill in for Feliciano? Chatting to the Buffalo News, Ford gave the answer many would expect of a player that was drafted by Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane. Simply put: Yes.

“I’m good with whatever the team needs,” Ford told the BN. “I’ve never been a ‘me’ guy before, so I’m not going to be a ‘me’ guy now. If they need me to play inside, I’ll play inside.”

Moving Ford’s position was one of the first ideas that likely popped in the minds of many observers of the team when Feliciano’s injury was announced. That’s because prior to the 2019 NFL Draft, where the Bills traded up for Ford in the second round, many analysts pegged the Oklahoma product as a better guard than tackle in the pros. It’s not an uncommon move for offensive lineman to make. However, the Bills front office has continued to push Ford’s play to the right tackle spot. At times, he’s been spotty there, but did see extended playing time there when veteran Ty Nsekehe went down with an ankle injury last season. The two had been splitting playing time there prior to that, but Ford also dealt with a few injuries as a rookie himself.

But only hours after Feliciano’s injury, reports surfaced that the Bills had signed Brian Winters. The former Jet played Feliciano’s position over the course of his seven-year career. While Winters does have to earn that role, as McDermott claimed it’s “next man up,” he does appear to be the front-runner. In putting Winters there, it’d also allow the Bills to keep Ford at tackle as well.

Health is never a given, though. Many things could still happen between now and the end of the upcoming season. But as far as we know, if needed, Ford will be open to the move to guard if the Bills need it. For right now, Winters will have to battle guys such as Evan Boehm, Daryl Williams and perhaps even Nsekhe to secure a starting spot in place of Feliciano.

 

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Bills 53-man roster projection: Start of training camp

Buffalo Bills 2020 53-man roster projection at the start of training camp.

The Bills are getting training camp underway at their team facility in Orchard Park. That alone signals things are different.

In a typical offseason, the Bills are getting after it in Rochester for camp. Instead, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the team is at home in OP for safety reasons. Among those measures includes waiting until later this month to get on the field and in pads for practices.

So maybe this 53-man roster projection is a bit too early, but let’s give it a crack anyway. Here’s a roster prediction for the Bills as the team gets training camp underway:

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, right, watches as quarterback Matt Barkley warms up during practice. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Quarterback (3)

Josh Allen, Matt Barkley, Jake Fromm

Cuts: Davis Webb

Earlier this offseason the Bills were in a position to potentially keep two quarterbacks and cut Matt Barkley. He’s no longer really a “veteran” mentor to Allen, games played wise. Allen has 27 starts to Barkley’s seven. Cutting Barkley could also save the Bills $1.5M against the salary cap.

But that was months ago. We’ve since lost all sense of normalcy and preseason games. It would be insane for the Bills to go into a season with Jake Fromm as QB2, at least right away, considering he’ll have never played in an NFL game at all before then thanks to the cancelled exhibition games. At least Fromm has big-time college experience from Georgia, though.

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Buffalo Bills training camp preview: Offensive line

2020 Buffalo Bills training camp preview for the team’s offensive line.

The Buffalo Bills are putting the final touches on their preparations for training camp in 2020, one that’s not going to be like any other.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, everyone from fans to the organization knows things aren’t going to be the same during 2020’s camp. Safety precautions between players and owners are still being discussed and worked out.

Still, the end goal for training camp is the same as usual. The Bills need to trim their roster down and find the best bunch of guys to send into battle together on game day.

Bills Wire will go group-by-group, breaking down each position ahead of camp’s *expected* start on July 28. This round is the offensive line:

Buffalo Bills center Mitch Morse. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

Players (age)

  • Mitch Morse (28: 6th season)
  • Spencer Long (29: 7th season)
  • Ike Boettger (25: 3rd season)
  • Jon Feliciano (28: 6th season)
  • Marquel Harrell (23: Rookie)
  • Quinton Spain (28: 6th season)
  • Ryan Bates (23: 2nd season)
  • Evan Boehm (26: 5th season)
  • Garrett McGhin (24: 2nd season)
  • Daryl Williams (27: 6th season)
  • Trey Adams (23: Rookie)
  • Victor Salako (26: 2nd season)
  • Dion Dawkins (26: 4th season)
  • Cody Ford (23: 2nd season)
  • Ty Nsekhe: (34: 6th season)
  • Brandon Walton (22: Rookie)

2019 recap

The 2019 recap for this offensive line would be a long one, but we’ll keep it short and sweet. The Bills turned over… just about everything along their line a year ago. In 2018, the group was very bad. From that season, the only starter that survived was left tackle Dion Dawkins. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane saw fit to add as many bodies as he could in free agency and the draft in 2019, and told them all essentially the same: Best man wins. That grouping, from left to right, ended up being: Dawkins, Quinton Spain, Mitch Morse, Jon Feliciano, and Cody Ford with a mix of Ty Nsekhe at right tackle. Overall, this unit’s play was much better than 2018, but they do not rank amongst the NFL’s best just yet, there’s room to grow.

Now here’s a rundown of storylines to follow in this position group:

Does continuity reign supreme?

Earlier this offseason, a study was released about continuity in the NFL. The Bills have the most continuity among their roster heading into next season. A big part of that is having all five (or six) guys who spent time starting on their offensive line returning. That’s right, all six of those guys mentioned in our 2019 recap are back once again. Spain was re-signed this offseason in an effort to do just that.

So is that it? Are we all said and done?

Well, the Bills should really not do that, but we’ll see if the coach staff does. There’s one big thought on both sides of the fence. Why keep the same group together? Chemistry builds over time with an offensive line, so another season of… seasoning… could be great for this group. On the flip side, why shouldn’t the starter roles just be given back over? Well, best mans, right? If there’s someone better, give that person the job. You’d still likely have a big chunk of chemistry growing on a line with maybe just one new face.

We’ll see which route the Bills are going.

 

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PFF ranks Bills’ 2020 offensive line in middle of NFL rankings

Buffalo BIlls ranking in Pro Football Focus’ offensive line rankings heading into 2020 season.

Slow and steady, the Buffalo Bills’ offensive line is improving, a trend the club would like to see continue moving forward.

With no hard stats to base offensive line play off of, Pro Football Focus is a go-to for analyzing play in the trenches. While sometimes subjective, the football analytics outlet’s most recent offensive line rankings saw some more improvement for the Bills.

Heading into the 2020 NFL season, PFF’s latest O-line rankings see the Bills move up in comparison to their most recent ones. Buffalo currently sits at the No. 18 spot overall.

Here’s part of the breakdown on the Bills’ offensive line:

Left tackle Dion Dawkins is the anchor after grading at 73.1 overall last season, good for 24th among 82 qualifying tackles. Dawkins has been an above-average option in his three years in the league and doesn’t make many mistakes in the run game, posting the seventh-lowest percentage of negatively graded plays last season. On the other side, Cody Ford had common rookie struggles, finishing just 78th out of 89 qualifying tackles with a 52.4 grade. He must improve in all areas.

On the interior, it’s a solid group with center Mitch Morse and right guard Jon Feliciano ranking right in the middle of their respective position groups, while left guard Quinton Spain has been an average guard over the last three years.

The Bills have mid-tier options across the board on the offensive line but strong depth — they’re a couple of rebound seasons away from cracking the top 12 lines in the league.

At the end of last season, the Bills finished in PFF’s rankings as the 21st best unit in the NFL. Again, slowly but surely, Buffalo’s group in getting their dues.

In their analysis, PFF goes on to call tackle Ty Nsekhe one of the “better swing tackles” in the NFL, who has an overall grade of 72.0 overall since 2015. In addition, recently added lineman Daryl Williams is mentioned to have an “excellent 2017 season to hang is hat on” which saw him finish as the 15th best tackle in the league.

While PFF is to be taken with a grain of salt, their analysis of Buffalo’s offensive line is a fair one. The Bills’ current offensive line is often viewed through the lens of the grouping prior to that. That makes them appear much better than it might actually be.

In 2018, the Bills surprisingly lost Eric Wood and Richie Incognito on their line, two Pro Bowl pieces, due to retirements. Because of those losses, the unit was brutal and among one of the worst in the league for that campaign. That makes the current group seem a ton better, which they are, but that does not mean they’re among the league’s best.

What the Bills are currently banking on is something that’s rarely the case in the NFL, in regard to potential future improved play. It’s hard for teams to keep rosters together in the salary cap era. From 2019 to 2020, the Bills managed to do that better than any team in the NFL. A big part of that is the Bills returning their five starters in the trenches.

If the group can build on the chemistry that was established in 2019, there’s no reason a few steps forward can’t be taken again in 2020. By this time next year, the ultimate goal for the club is to see the offensive line approach that top-12 area, if not land squarely in it.

 

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4 Bills who could be key reserves in 2020

Buffalo Bills players that could be key depth pieces in 2020.

It’s not the hardest excersise to predict the Buffalo Bills’ starting roster in 2020. There’s a good chance that many could predict almost all of the team’s starters next season already.

But team’s have 50-plus players on the roster and backups are needed many times. In terms of these depth pieces, some could become very important for a team when called upon.

Here are four players on the Bills who could be key reserve players in 2020:

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

OL Ty Nsekhe

Last season the Bills’ offensive line much improved, but an average unit. The year prior, the group was so bad that the ensuing season seemed night and day. But this group can still improve but a big reason why it seemed better is because of their health a year ago.

The only player on the Bills’ offensive line to see significant time on the the injury cart was veteran Ty Nsekhe. Once he went down, Cody Ford slid right into that slot at right tackle since the two were rotating, anyways. But with this health in mind, it’s once again Nsekhe that could be a key reserve. The Bills didn’t address the offensive line at the recent draft, so they’re going to go with a slew of veterans once again. Daryl Williams and Evan Boehm are another set of experienced  players added at the O-line this offseason, but Nsekhe played well with the Bills a year ago, has already meshed and built chemistry with his teammates, and his contract has a bigger burden on the salary cap if cut. Nsekhe could be the first guy jumping off the bench if someone goes down at tackle or guard next season.

 

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Way-too-early 2021 mock draft has Bills selecting OL in Round 1

Buffalo Bills in Draft Wire’s 2021 NFL Mock draft.

The Buffalo Bills chose not to address their offensive line at the 2020 NFL Draft. For fun, Draft Wire dropped a way-too-far 2021 mock draft and assuming the Bills keep their first-round pick in next year’s draft, the club wastes no time in adding to the trenches.

With the No. 19 overall pick, the Bills select Tennessee offensive lineman Cade Mays.

This upcoming NFL season the Bills had an easy task to return all five of their starting offensive lineman. All Buffalo had to do was re-sign Quinton Spain, and the team did so. In 2021, it might be a bit harder.

Among starters, Dion Dawkins and Jon Feliciano are slated to be free agents. Dawkins is the more hopeful re-signee option, but could the Bills potentially hope for an upgrade from Feliciano? Perhaps, although Feliciano was Buffalo’s best interior offensive lineman per Pro Football Focus in 2019, ranking as the 35th best guard in the NFL. Looking at key depth pieces, there still could be openings via Ty Nsekhe, Daryl Williams and Spencer Long (team option), who all also could be gone in 2021.

On Mays, the Georgia transfer is a big 6-foot-6, 318-pound versatile lineman that previously blocked for former Georgia QB turned Bills QB, Jake Fromm.

And for what it’s worth, at No. 19, the Bills would be a playoff team, but a quick exit from the show in Round 1 once again.

 

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